PROSTATE CANCER: SEXUALITY, THE OTHER CHALLENGE

Faced with ever more efficient techniques and multidisciplinary care, prostate cancer is less and less often the death knell for sexuality. Explanations.

It is the main cancer occurring in men over 65 years of age and one of the most controversial for its early detection, but prostate cancer is also being better and better managed and treated to limit “collateral” injuries when they are preventable. One of the challenges: preserving the integrity of the urethral sphincter, protecting patients from urinary loss, but also the erection nerves, directly attached to the prostate and extending into the penis to allow erection. “For purely anatomical reasons, the prostate cancer treatment in Delhi can have an impact on sexuality and affect patients beyond the disease itself,” emphasizes Dr. Shailendra Goel, urologist in Noida. Affected in their virility, some men fall into a situation of discomfort, which they very often keep silent. Taking into account the dimension of sexuality is therefore essential before, during and after treatment.”

When should you consult?

Early detection of prostate cancer is generally recommended in men between 50 and 70 years old and is mainly based on the so-called “PSA” test. Clearly, a blood test to measure a protein, PSA, secreted in excess in case of prostate tumor. In case of suspicion, which may need to be confirmed by an MRI, a biopsy may be necessary. Characterized by a generally slow evolution and often without incidence for many years, prostate cancer gives rise to some controversy as to too aggressive or early actions of radiotherapy or surgery. Among the dreaded facts: incontinence and erectile dysfunction.

Radiotherapy or removal of the prostate

The medical challenges? They are numerous and begin with the choice of prostate cancer treatment in Noida. Radiation therapy or total removal of the prostate: the option depends directly on the size of the tumor and on the decision taken between the best urologist in Noida and the patient. Non-invasive, radiotherapy has known progress such that it can intervene without causing damage to the erectile nerves, but it is only possible for minimally invasive tumors. For other situations, surgery is inevitable. “In the case of prostate cancer, the tumor generally nestles inside the gland by sticking to its wall,” explains urologist in Ghaziabad. The erector nerves, meanwhile, are attached to the outside of the prostate. Depending on the location of the tumor.

Comprehensive care

Two cases then emerge, depending on whether or not the erection nerves could be preserved. “In all cases, comprehensive care including sex therapy is advised,” said the best urologist in Ghaziabad. If nerves have been preserved, resumption of sexual activity is recommended as early as two weeks after the intervention, explains Professor Iselin. If an erection is no longer physiologically possible, ad hoc treatments are possible.

The challenge remains real. “There is necessarily a before and after surgery on the prostate,” says Dr. Shailendra Goel, urologist and sexologist in Noida. Sexuality will have to reinvent itself. In extreme cases, you have to take into account that the section of nerves has definitively interrupted the nervous contact between the brain and the penis. And to recall: “In this process, several factors directly related to the patient’s life will make the difference, starting with his age – 50% of men already experience erectile dysfunction at 40 years -, but also his condition health and liveliness of his sex life. The more solid and sexually active the couple, the more likely they are to overcome the ordeal and find themselves.”